Pa. man sentenced on meth charges

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A man convicted of making methamphetamine was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to one to five years in state prison.

Brian Richard Truett, 35, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty Dec. 16 to manufacturing a controlled substance and possession of liquified ammonia with intent to deliver, according to court records. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Carol Van Horn ordered Truett to spend another five years on probation.

"If I had any indication, or any evidence, that this was for distribution, this would not have been your sentence," Van Horn told Truett, noting that the presentence report indicated he had made the drug for his own use.

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On April 6, 2005, Truett was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police on a fugitive warrant at an address on Country Road in Guilford Township. The affidavit of probable cause stated that the arresting trooper saw materials that could be used to manufacture the methamphetamine in a trailer being used by Truett.

The following day, members of the state police Clandestine Laboratory Response Team searched the trailer and found 2 to 4 grams of methamphetamine, police said. The team also found materials used in the production of the drug, including liquified ammonia, Coleman fuel, acids, bases and ephedrine, a drug extracted from cold tablets.

Truett was given 300 days credit for time served since his arrest, but he might face extradition to another state once he is paroled in Pennsylvania. Assistant District Attorney Angela Krom said Truett had been charged in Colorado with manufacturing a controlled substance.

Krom said it will be up to authorities in that state if he will be extradited for prosecution after serving his sentence here.

Van Horn ordered Truett to pay $1,250 in fines and other costs, but a figure on his restitution for the cost of the Clandestine Laboratory Response Team to test, clean up and dispose of the chemicals had yet to be determined, according to the sentencing order. The prosecution was given 30 days to provide that figure, according to the order.

Krom said the cost for the team's services could run to several thousand dollars.

At the time of his arrest, Truett was believed to be the first person charged in the county with operating a meth lab. In December, police in Waynesboro, Pa., filed similar charges against two North Carolina men after discovering chemicals that could potentially be used to make methamphetamine in their West Main Street hotel room.